THERE was once a king who was passionately in love with a beautiful
princess, but she could not be married because a magician had
enchanted her. The king went to a good fairy to inquire what he should
do. Said the fairy, after receiving him graciously: "Sir, I will tell
you a great secret. The princess has a great cat whom she loves so well
that she cares for nothing and nobody else; but she will be obliged to
marry any person who is adroit enough to walk upon the cat's tail."

"That will not be very difficult," thought the king to himself, and
departed, resolving to trample the cat's tail to pieces rather than not
succeed in walking upon it. He went immediately to the palace of his
fair mistress and the cat; the animal came in front of him, arching
its back in anger as it was wont to do. The king lifted up his foot,
thinking nothing would be so easy as to tread on the tail, but he found
himself mistaken. Minon--that was the creature's name--twisted itself
round so sharply that the king only hurt his own foot by stamping on the
floor. For eight days did he pursue the cat everywhere: up and down
the palace he was after it from morning till night, but with no better
success; the tail seemed made of quicksilver, so very lively was it. At
last the king had the good fortune to catch Minon sleeping, when tramp!
tramp! he trod on the tail with all his force.

Minon woke up, mewed horribly, and immediately changed from a cat into a
large, fierce-looking man, who regarded the king with flashing eyes.

"You must marry the princess," cried he, "because you have broken the
enchantment in which I held her; but I will be revenged on you. You
shall have a son with a nose as long as--that;" he made in the air a
curve of half a foot; "yet he shall believe it is just like all other
noses, and shall be always unfortunate till he has found out it is not.
And if you ever tell anybody of this threat of mine, you shall die on
the spot." So saying the magician disappeared.

The king, who was at first much terrified, soon began to laugh at this
adventure. "My son might have a worse misfortune than too long a nose,"
thought he. "At least it will hinder him neither in seeing nor hearing.
I will go and find the princess and marry her at once."

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